It is known to provide a steering system for a vehicle to allow a driver to steer wheels of the vehicle. In a vehicle such as a truck, the steering system typically includes a steering wheel, a steering shaft connected to the steering wheel, a steering unit connected to the steering shaft and one or more members such as a tie rods connected to the steering unit and a steering knuckle for the wheel.
A rack and pinion steering system for a vehicle typically includes a rack and pinion steering gear mounted on a body structure and a pair of tie rods between the steering gear and the steering knuckles. In some vehicle applications such as a pick-up truck, the pickup truck is steered in the front by the rack and pinion steering gear. The steering gear is mounted off of a frame crossmember by two bonded rubber bushings that are pressed into a gear housing. The bushings are, then, attached to a frame of the vehicle by two bolts projecting through the crossmember and the bushings. This totally isolates the steering gear from the frame. The tie rods connecting the steering gear to the steering arms are isolated by the rubber bushed suspension components. Additionally, the only other attachment of the steering gear to the vehicle is an intermediate shaft connection. Because of the upper intermediate shaft design, i.e. plastic coated slip yoke, it, too, effectively electrically isolates the steering gear from any electrical ground. However, due to the nature of the steering gear, the location of the steering gear within the vehicle and the proximity of the engine, the steering gear is said to radiate electrical noise induced by an engine ignition system. This radiated noise is picked up by a vehicle radio antenna in the AM spectrum, thus causing noise (static), thereby preventing clean audio for a radio listener of the vehicle.
One attempt to eliminate this noise is to provide a separate grounding strap or other external grounding device to ground the steering gear to the frame of the vehicle. However, such a separate grounding strap would add additional expense as well as assembly labor in making the grounding connection to the frame of the vehicle.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a mounting assembly for a steering system of a vehicle that allows for grounding of a steering gear. It is also desirable to eliminate static noise caused by a mounting assembly for a steering system of a vehicle. It is further desirable to provide a mounting assembly for a steering system of a vehicle that provides good radio reception, without the need for an additional component to ground the steering gear. Thus, there is a need in the art to provide a mounting assembly for a steering system of a vehicle that meets these desires.